The New Favorite of Farmers in Konya: Sunflowers

Sunflower cultivation is increasing in the Konya and Adana regions.

Prof. Dr. Yalçın Kaya, the Director of the Plant Breeding Application and Research Center at Trakya University, emphasized the need to expand the cultivation areas of drought-resistant plant varieties and suggested that canola and sunflower could be alternative crops.

Kaya particularly emphasized that sugar beets and corn are among the crops that consume a significant amount of water. He made the following assessments: "Given our limited water resources, what matters most is how much land we can irrigate with the available water. Corn cultivation, for instance, requires irrigation 8-10 times during the season. Sunflower cultivation could be expanded using the same water that would go to corn. In recent times, sunflower cultivation has been increasing, especially in the Konya and Adana regions. It's essential to prefer crops that can irrigate more land with the water at hand. Similarly, sugar beets also consume a considerable amount of water. Due to excessive use of groundwater, sinkholes have formed in the Konya region. Corn cultivation could be shifted to areas with sufficient rainfall, like the Sakarya region and the Black Sea, to reduce water usage."